The Legend of Strikers!
by LucarioTagTeam
Summary: Welcome to the mysterious realm, where no man or woman exist. Only the marvels known as Pokemon roam these lands, and they do so alone. All seems normal at first, but when one lone Charmander loses his memories, things start falling apart, seam by seam. Can he find friends, or meet his end? Read, and find out. A PMD Fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright everyone. Lately I've been reading a lot of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fanfics, particularly Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Silver Resistance by Scytherider. So I got thinking; what don't I write one? I know that I already have PMD: FOA, but I really just wrote that so I would be eligible to be a beta reader. Sorry, but it's true. So, after about two weeks of developing new characters, and preparing my trip to Kraken Con (this is being written April 15** **th** **) I decided to write this. This will take major story elements from PMD EoS, that being the boss fights, but will start out completely different. I don't want to go into all the details, since you could just read this and not the actual story that took me days to write. But enough of my rambling, I've got a costume to order, grades to keep up, and a story to write. So, without further adieu, prepare to enter the Mystery Dungeon world!**

 **Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you! Have fun and don't die!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of Nintendo, Pokemon, or any of the characters shown except for my own Original Characters.**

* * *

 _Welcome to the world of Pokemon; before I let you through, I need to ask a few questions about you. Please answer truthfully._

 _Now then…_

 _Have you ever blurted something out without thinking about the consequences first?_

If I'm going to be honest, then yes.

 _Do you want to be taller someday?_

I could use a little height. I'll go with yes.

 _Once you've decided on something, do you see it through to the end?_

Hell yeah! Don't start what you can't finish.

 _Have you ever said 'nice to meet you' to someone you've meet previously?_

I'd be kind of a jerk if I didn't… Yes.

 _Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought 'What a cool person'?_

Bwhahahahaha! Oh god no, I'm nerdy as can be!

 _Have you ever thought about digging in your backyard thinking you could find buried treasure?_

Maybe when I was little…

 _Do you prefer to play outside than inside?_

If I'm with friends, yes.

 _You discover a beat-up looking treasure chest covered with strange ruins. What do you do?_

Open it of course!

 _Have you ever realized you were hogging the conversation?_

So many times…

 _When you see a switch, do you have an overwhelming urge to flip it?_

Uhh, no.

 _Have you ever forgotten you bought something and bought another one?_

At least once…or twice.

 _Do you think it's important to be the best?_

Not a bit. I hate the spotlight.

 _Do you want to be famous?_

I'd rather be rich, so I'll pass on this one. No thanks.

 _If you saw someone being bad, would you scold them?_

I did that three days ago. Damn laser pointers…

 _Have you ever had a joke that fell flat?_

I had jokes that face-planted.

 _Do you like lively parties?_

Oh, god no. I hate stuff like that

 _Are you truly sincere when apologizing?_

Again, I'd be a jerk if I didn't. Yes.

 _Do you like karaoke?_

My friends don't like being deaf…no. and double no.

 _You're hiking up a mountain when you reach a diverging path. Do you take the wide or narrow path?_

I don't like my luck… I'll take the wide path.

 _Your friend takes a spectacular fall! Help or laugh?_

God, a lot of these is just be an asshole or no. I would help my friend up without a second's hesitation.

 _Have you ever called a teacher 'Dad' or 'Mom'?_

Yes.

 _There's a rumor of a ghost haunting the school bathroom! What do you do?_

Don't make me go in there… I hate ghosts…

 _You're friend is running a little late. Is that okay?_

Of course!

 _Do you think, no matter what, life must go on?_

…yeah.

 _Do you think it is sometimes necessary to blame others for what you did?_

Nope.

 _You're in a movie theater. What do you watch?_

Action.

 _You have a really important test tomorrow! What do you do?_

I mean, I usually study…

 _You're in class when you have to go to the bathroom!_

I can hold it, I'm not two.

 _Do you think you have good study habits?_

Yes.

 _You're packing your classrooms snacks for a picnic when you get hungry. What do you do?_

I'm fine. I won't eat it.

 _You see a cake that's past its expiration date, but only by a single day. What do you do?_

I'll think about it.

 _You just stuffed yourself on a nice meal when dessert arrives. What do you do?_

Dessert… yummy… I love dessert, so I'll eat it.

 _You're friend made a meal that tastes terrible. What is your reaction?_

I don't want hurt their feelings… I'll suck it up.

 _Everyone's sharing a dessert, but there is one piece left. What do you do?_

I'll tell everyone. I don't take the last piece unless told to.

 _You're eating at a very fancy restaurant known for its food. What's your order?_

I mean anything. I really don't care.

 _You're offered dinner by a friend._

I humbly accept, but I won't go all out.

 _Do you prefer to be busy or have a lot of free time?_

Free time.

 _You take off your shoes when you realize your socks are different colors!_

Damn… I would be embarrassed.

 _You've been asked to do a difficult task… what do you do?_

I'll ask for help.

 _You notice a toy that you bought yesterday is half price today! Reaction?_

Argghhhhh!

 _Do you think it's important to be fashionably late?_

I don't… yeah. I don't know that one.

 _How are your mornings?_

Eh, ok.

 _You've been invited to the party of your dreams… but no one is there! What do you think?_

Did something happen?

 _You've been given a large souvenir bag. What do you do?_

I'll stem my curiosity and open it later.

 _Hey what's that? There's someone behind you! So… did you look?_

Can't believe I fell for it…

 _Final question…_

 _Male or Female?_

I am a proud male!

 _Thank you for answering the questions… I will now analyze your aura._

…

…

…

 _You seem to have… A stunning golden aura._

 _And you seem to be… the docile type!_

 _After analysis, you shall be a…_

 _Charmander!_

A… Charmander?

 _Yes!_

… Okay then…

 _Prepare to enter the world of Pokémon! Have fun and don't die!_

Okay… wait what!?

 _Too late! Sending you through!_

* * *

"FELIX! JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER!"

"I CAN'T! IT HURTS TOO MUCH!"

"I'M BEGGING YOU, JUST A LITTLE FARTHER, WE'RE ALMOST-"

"NO! I'M SLIPPING!"

"HOLD ON!"

"WHAAAAA!"

… … …

Sleepy…

Tired…

Weak…

I could barely open my eyes; I was in so much pain. I saw three shadowy figures running towards me, a fourth, larger shadow close by. I closed my eyes for what seemed like a second, but when I opened back up, two of the smaller figures were fighting the bigger one, and after another close, three more figures, one larger, two smaller walked up to the first three, and gave them something. I closed my eyes for a fourth time, and saw the first three figures looking down at me, one of them standing a little farther back.

"He…y…are…y…ou…ok?" one of them asked, the voice sounding female.

"Le…ave…him…he…mig…ht…be…a…cr…imin…al…" a second, rugged male voice told the first, who took a step back.

"But…we don't…know…" a third, also male voice spoke, the voices and noises getting clearer than before. I felt one of them drag me away, and set me on something. I opened my eyes slightly, seeing them jump back.

"He's injured…what do we…do?" the female voice asked.

"I said…leave him." the second voice spoke again, sounding like he was leaving. The female voice left as well, but the third voice came up, and I felt myself leave the ground.

"I'll make sure…you'll be okay…" the third voice reassured me, I tried to give a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace. I closed my eyes again, and fell into a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes once again, I was in a room, looking at the ceiling. I could see better than before, and I could make out a window, showing a cloudy sky. I moved my arms, and I realized I was in a bed. I tried to move my head and sit up, but I fell back in pain. I heard a gasp, and something closing. Rough hands held me down, and I felt a sharp prick in my arm, and I fell into another deep sleep.

I woke up, and I could see better than before this time, the sky outside still a cloudy grey. I managed to look down, and saw my entire chest covered in bandages and some strange orange cloth. To tired to care, I rested my head back and looked back up at the ceiling. What felt like hours past before I heard a door open, and I turned my head towards the sound. A strange figure, no more than a few feet tall made their way up to me, some strange wooden thing in its hands. I couldn't make out anything else about the figure.

"Well, looks like your awake and healing up nicely this time. Hopefully I won't have to inject you again this time." A female voice spoke. I could make out that the figure was white, and possibly pink, but nothing else.

"Where… where am I?" I asked the figure, struggling to make the noise. My voice was raspier than I remember, but I might just be thirsty. The figure lowered its object, and tilted its head at me.

"Why, you're in Treasure Town. Home of the esteemed Wigglytuff Guild." It answered. "You've been unconscious for quite awhile now, you shouldn't be talking." It warned, but I tried and succeeded in shaking my head.

"What…happened…?" I asked, getting a sigh from the figure as it looked at the wooden object in its hands.

"Well, I can't tell you what happened exactly, but according to the list here you are very lucky. Multiple fractured ribs, a broken leg, severe internal bleeding, concussion, bruises on most of your body, and finally to round it all off, you went into cardiac arrest multiple times during the surgery. Had the rescue team gotten you here a second later, you wouldn't have made it." It lowered its object again, extending a pink hand. "I'm Nurse Blissey, and I've been making sure you don't leave for the distortion world just yet." I reached out a shaky hand, and managed to shake hers.

"Might I ask your name, for the records?" the nurse asked. I nodded, it being the only thing I remember right now.

"It's…Felix." I muttered out, my hand falling back to the bed from exhaustion. She nodded, setting the object down on the table nearby me.

"Nice to meet you Felix. Now, I'll be injecting you one final time with the healing solution, and when you wake up you should be able to walk around. That sounds good for you?" it asked, I nodded my head in reply. She reached over me and grabbed some strange tube. "Now, I know from experience that this will hurt a lot. Are you ready?" I nodded again. She nodded too, and pierced my arm with the tube, and my entire body burned like hellfire. I blacked out before I could fully register what had happened.

… … …

When I woke up for the final time, my vision was fully restored, and I could finally move around. I looked at where the nurse entered from before, but all I was a wall. Confused, I looked out the window, only to have a wall there too! Really confused, I tried to sit up, and noticed that the door was behind me, and there were no more windows. I must be in a different room, I thought. I looked ahead, seeing three figures sitting at a table, all looking at me. One was a stout green figure with a red stomach and a twig poking out from between his teeth. His eyes were a putrid shade of yellow, and his hands ended in three points. He looked at me disdainfully. The second one was a darker color, nearly black. It had red tufts of fur sticking out from its head, and sharp claws on its hands. The third and final one was sleeping on the table, and it was a shade of blue, with strange pads on its wrists. It wore a pair of orange goggles, and both it and the dark one wore red scarfs. The green one wore nothing. The dark one stood up and spoke.

"Hello, are you feeling better now?" it asked. The first female voice I heard matched hers perfectly. The green one scoffed, turning away.

"Who cares; he doesn't matter." The rugged male voice fit matched his with precision. The dark one turned on him and scolded the green being, its eyes closed. The blue one raised its head, blinking the sleep out of its eyes before staring at me.

"He's…awake…" It looked in awe; the third voice fit his as well. He clambered over the green one, getting an insult but he didn't care. He made his way up to my side, and cocked his head to the side.

"Do you remember me?' it asked. The green one looked back up.

"Dee, get away from him!" he shouted. 'Dee' frowned, turning around.

"But, I just wanna know…" he whined. The green one crossed its eyes and arms, looking away. The dark one sighed, walking up to me as well.

"I apologize on behalf of Brandon; he doesn't take well to strangers." She told me, motioning to the green one. "I'm Crystal, member and founder of Rescue Team Strikers." She placed a claw on her chest, which meant she was talking about her… I felt stupid just thinking about something so freaking obvious. She pointed to Brandon, saying that he's the leader of the group, and then to Dee, saying that he's the third founder and member of the team. It took me a second to register all this; I had just woken up! These fellas were just throwing so many things at me, telling me that one of them hated me, another was intrigued by me, and yet another treated me like some kid! I shook my hands in front of my face to slow her down.

"Wait wait wait! Okay, back up a second, and tell me how I got here." I asked, trying not to bump my apparent large nose. I felt my nose, feeling it a lot longer than I remember. My arms weren't orange; I didn't have slits for nostrils… what the hell is going on here! The blue one, Dee, looked up at me and cocked his head to the side again before fixing himself.

"Sorry, it's a nervous twitch." He stopped leaning over me, and straightened up. "We found you a little ways away from here, washed up on Treasure Beach. We chased an outlaw wanted for stealing an important item to our client, so we followed him to the beach. Upon fighting and winning against him, we noticed an orange mound stuck between a set of rocks. Upon further inspection, we saw that it was you, covered in blood and barely breathing. Crystal here dragged you over to some driftwood and propped you up. When Brandon over here saw that you were a Charmander, he acted like you were another outlaw, telling Crystal to leave you. I ignored him, picked you up, and ran back to the hospital here. By the time I got here, you had stopped breathing and was taken immediately into intensive care and then to surgery. You've been out for close to a week now, and we've been waiting for you to wake up." He finished, taking his seat once more. Crystal remained by me, pulling a pad of paper out of her bag.

"Okay, do you remember how you got on the beach?" I shook my head.

"What about the storm the night before we found you?" I shook my head.

"Do you remember your name?" I answered that one.

"Felix." She made a note on the paper.

"Do you have any other memories?" I shook my head.

"Do you remember what species you are?" I looked at her confused. She sighed.

"Do you remember that you're a Charmander?" I shook my head.

"Well you are. Next question, do you know where you came from?" I shook my head. She returned the paper to the bag, and put it on her shoulder. The other two got up, and left. Before she did, she turned to me.

"Wait here, we're going to ask our Guild Master what to do with you." And with that she left. I lied back down in the bed, relaxing. So apparently I was washed up on the shore, heavily injured. I was then found by Team Strikers, brought here, nearly died mind you, and finally brought to this room to finish healing. I looked down at my smooth orange chest (the strange cloth from before turned out to be my own flesh), seeing a lot of blood-soaked bandages. Shocked, I replaced the sheets and closed my eyes, feeling tired.

… … …

A loud banging woke me up from my sleep, and a series of yelling followed.

"No! I refuse to let-." It sounded like Brandon from before, but he sounded infuriated.

"I don't care if he's the reincarnation of Darkrai himself! He will join you until he gets his bearings, it's in the code!" A squawking voice shouted back, and it sounded like wings flapping.

"Ah, to hell with the code! I will never allow it!" Brandon shouted.

"Never insult the code, or me! If it wasn't for me and the Guild Master, you would have been killed in that fire!"

"If it wasn't for his kind then there would have been no fire!"

"ENOUGH! You will take him in, and you will accept him! Otherwise, you can give me your badge and leave my sight!" A door slammed, and Brandon cursed loudly at his verbal assailant. My door opened, and Brandon looked through it, not fully stepping into the room.

"Since the Guild Master insists that my team follows the Explorer Code, which means that unless you refuse, you will join my exploration team until you can survive on your own. I'll be here when you're released for your answer." And with that, he left me alone in the room confused to all hell. What was an exploration team? Why does Brandon hate me so? And who was that yelling at him? Shaking my head, I decided to resume my nap. Some sleep would do me good.

… … …

The following morning the same nurse from before entered my room waking me from my deep and dreamless slumber.

"Hello Felix. Let's see how you're healing up today, shall we?" she asked, I nodded sleepily. She took off the sheets and removed the bandages around my chest and abdomen. Long and painful cuts covered me, and bruises dotted me like stars in the sky.

"Well, as long as those cuts stay closed, you should be roughly okay…" she muttered to herself. She handed me a roll of bandages and a bottle of pills.

"Take two pills every day before you go to sleep. Never take three, and don't take just one. The bandages are for if your cuts re-open." She told me, wrapping a new set of bandages on me. She leaned down to do something, and I felt the bed I was in start to move, forcing me into a sitting position. I swung my legs over, and jumped off the bed, nearly wiping out on the cool wooden floor. I turned around to stretch, and I saw a little flame dart out of sight. Perplexed, I looked over my shoulder and saw that I had a tail, and on top of it lived a tiny little ember, no bigger than my fist. Nurse Blissey giggled as I spun around trying to get a better look.

"My my, looks like you have a more severe case of amnesia than I thought." I stopped and looked at her, deciding to leave my tail alone for the time being.

"What do you mean?" I asked when she had finally calmed down from the laughter. She wiped a tear from her eye, and answered that all members of my species have a tail with the Life Flame blazing on he end. It would never be extinguished until I died, and I myself could never smother it out. The size of the flame indicated the members emotional and physical state, where if I'm angry or healthy it would flare to a larger size and heat; but if I'm injured or sad it would flicker to a small, tiny ember.

"And that's it in a nutshell." She finished. I looked back over and saw it. It burned a little more than before. I took that as I sign that I was feeling better, so I took my leave from the room after heart fully thanking the nurse for taking care of me. She gave me a small bag to hold the medicine she handed me earlier, and I slung it around my shoulder before walking out. Outside the front doors sat Brandon, twirling a small shiny badge between his fingers. He looked up as I made my way near him, and he tossed the badge at me. I caught it, and stared.

"That's your Rescue Badge. If you want to join, that is." He told me, readjusting his pack before walking off. I placed the badge in my pack before following him. We went down a long dirt path before entering a small town area. I could see various shops and buildings around me, all stationed by various figures. A few places were empty completely, not even anyone to guard it. Many were standing around, idly chatting about things they did during the day. Brandon went on ahead, and I ran up to catch him.

The next place I saw was a crossroads. To my immediate left there was a hole in the ground with a sign placed next to it. Further away from that, a pathway leading to the beach. I shuddered; think about what could have happened if they didn't arrive in time to save me. I turned to my right, and saw Brandon making his way up a lot of steps, to a very strangely shaped building. It kind of resembled Nurse Blissey, if only for the color. It had long rabbit ears, and a strange wrought iron gateway for a mouth. I followed him up, and saw his stop moving and stand on a sort of grate. He leaned down and shouted.

"Hey Jr! I've got a visitor so don't slack off when you read his footprint!" he shouted down; I heard a groan in reply. He stepped off before staring right at me.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get on the damn grate!" he barked, surprising me. I hastily went up and stood on the wooden grate.

"Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The pokemon is Charmander! The pokemon is Charmander!"

"You may enter!"

I stared right into space. The two voices shouting at each other nearly shocked me out of my skin, my eyes bugging out. Brandon calmly walked up as the iron gates raised, allowing entrance. On autopilot, I followed him.

Inside the small hut was a ladder leading down, and I saw the top of Brandon's head disappear from view. I went down the ladder, taking care to tuck in my tail before entering.

The first floor I saw was filled with assorted figures, all doing different things. A massive yellow and blue figure picked off several pieces of paper off the wall with his teeth before walking over to two smaller green and yellow figures. A large blue and red bird was conversing with a small white and red caterpillar with two small yellowish horns. It looked nervous to all hell. Many others were talking to themselves, or going up and down different ladders. Brandon jumped off our ladder, and I did the same, nearly crashing into a massive purple snake. It hissed in retaliation before slithering off.

"This is the Wigglytuff Rescue Base. In here you will find every rescue team this side of the Kyogre Sea. This first floor is dedicated to the Outlaw Notice Board and the Rescue Offer Board. Both hold requests from various pokemon that need help. The floors below hold the storage facility, team bunks, the cafeteria, and finally the Croagunk Swap Shop and the Guildmaster's room." Brandon explained before dashing down the set of red ladder to the right. I stood there confused for a while until I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a towering, white and red figure with red markings over their body and claws for fingers. It was at least three times my own size!

"Brandon leave you all lost and alone?" it asked. I nodded, not knowing what else to do. The figure sighed.

"Yeah, Brandon has been known to do that from time to time. It's not his fault; he just doesn't like new kinds of folk. Names Auster, but every one calls me Big Al, on account of my size." He extended one of his claws, and I shook it.

"My names Felix." I replied.

"I'm the second in command of Team Cutter." He had a light accent, so I guess he wasn't from here. He sighed again. "But don't let my size or strength fools you, I rarely fight." He turned to me. "Brandon really doesn't like any fire types, after what happened. But since he has left you, I'll finish showing you around before handing you off to the guild master." I shook my hands at him.

"No, you don't have to do that." He shrugged.

"Eh, it's not like I have anything else to do for today; I already finished the mission I was assigned." He finished, reaching down and picking me up with one hand, much to my surprise and shock. He deftly tossed me in the air before grabbing me and placing me on his shoulder. I looked closer at him, and saw his thick white fur was dotted with long and deep scars; this was a Pokémon who had seen quite a few fights! He turned to look at me.

"Might wanna hold on, I'll be going pretty fast down the ladder. So you might want to… HOLD ON!" He shouted, shocking me and he bolted down the stairs so fast that on pure reflex I managed to grab his shoulder fur. He leaped over several others, and straight down the blue ladder. He landed on his arms, and flipped back over to his legs. I looked around in awe, seeing all the different things underground. I could feel my flame grow a little from the excitement. Auster yelped before picking be up and lightly tossing me on the floor. I looked up at him before realizing that my ember had set a patch of his fur on fire. He quickly pat it out and looked at me before muttering something I couldn't catch. From then on, I walked instead of hitching a ride.

"Now, this floor has most of the guild in it, save for the Guildmaster's room and the team bunks. If you'll look over here, you can see that we have a few shops down here; this is due to the fact that we've needed to expand so much that a few well known shopkeepers in Treasure Town have moved their business down here." He pointed out a store owned by a family of Natu's and Xatu's that can open locked treasure chests for a fee, a rather shady looking Mismagius that owned a bank, and a storage area manned by a rather friendly looking Gallade. The Gallade waved at me, and I nervously waved back. He smiled and went back to checking papers. Auster noticed, and commented.

"That guy is Alon. The nicest and deadliest pokemon you will ever know. As long as you stay on his good side, you'll never have to know the fury that is a Gallade." He shuddered. "Luckily, the only thing that will get you on his bad side is theft or murder without a damn good reason, so everyone here hasn't seen that side of him in years." I looked at him.

"Why? What happened then?" Auster shook his head.

"It's best not to bring it up."

… … …

"And that concludes the Wigglytuff Guild grand tour!" Auster shouted once he'd shown me everything. We were standing in front of the Guildmaster's room, so this would be goodbye for now. Turns out this place is packed with pokemon; there were twenty different rooms for rescue teams, and sixteen were packed!

"Alright, all you have to do now is go and tell the guild master that Team Strikers has accepted you until further notice." Auster finished, climbing back up the ladder. I stood alone in the large room, the only noise coming from Croagunk's bubbling cauldron. I cautiously knocked on the large wooden doors, and I took a step back in surprise. The doors opened by themselves, and I heard a voice from inside. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. I grabbed my tail nervously as I walked inside. The door closed behind me, startling me. I clutched my tail like a lifeline as I went further into the guildmaster's room.

I came across another set of wooden doors, a light leaking out from the other side. The voice from earlier continued to speak, and this time I could place it. It was the pokemon that Brandon was yelling at earlier. I slowly opened the door, and the voice stopped. I peered inside and saw two pokemon sitting at a table, looking over at me. One was a strange bird with multi-colored feathers, and the other was… I really don't know how else to describe it. It was a fluffy pink doughnut with rabbit ears. Its face resembled the outside of the guild, so I guessed that it was the guildmaster.

"Friendly friend!" the pink one shouted, startling me. It bolted over and picked me up in a very tight hug. It squeezed me to the pointed where the bird had to pry it away from me. It sighed, turning back to look at me.

"Oh, you must be the Charmander that Strikers saved. So, have you come to a decision whether or not to join?" I meekly nodded, not sure what else to do. The bird clapped its wings together before hopping off to the back room. The guildmaster eyed me, and I flushed red.

"Friendly friend!" it shouted, causing me to cower. I sure as heck didn't want to be strangled by this guy again! But it only went up to me and shook my hand.

"Welcome to my guild! I am Wigglytuff!" it shouted. I say it because although I had no doubt he was male, he had a very feminine voice and actions. The bird came back from his trip, and dumped several items at my feet. One of which was a larger pack than the one I currently carried.

"This is your rescue starter kit, given to every member of every team. Open it up." The bird told me. I did as asked, and I saw more things inside the bag. A white scarf, several glass bottles filled with fluid, and a map. I grabbed the scarf and wrapped it around my neck, and unfurled the map. It was blank except for the landmasses. The scarf felt quite warm, and I liked it.

"That is the map of the Cyin region, the place where we are currently…" The bird pointed to a spot by the coastline. "Is right here." I looked at the map more, and saw things from caves to mountains, stretching far and wide. The bird flapped its wings.

"Oh my! I completely forgot to introduce ourselves! I am the second in command of the guild, Chatot. This is guild master Wigglytuff!" Chatot flapped his wings again, sending a feather flying into the air.

"We need to get you to the bunks before it gets too late." He hopped over, placed everything into the bag, and slung it over his shoulder. "Follow me, I'll show you the way." He ran out of the room in a hurry. I gathered myself and took off after him. I saw his head vanish from sight down the ladder, so I slid down it. On the bottom he was waiting for me.

"This way to Team Strikers bunks!" he shouted, flapping his wings before flying off. I ran ahead, trying to not step on my tail. I past right by Auster talking to one of his teammates, and I shouted his name and waved as I ran by. Chatot took a right before hitting the stone wall, and slipped by another room. I squeezed through, and saw Team Strikers bunks.

Two blazing torches adorned the front of the room, with the team name emblazoned on a sheet of metal above it. Inside I saw Dee from before tinkering on some metal parts. He looked up and waved me over. Chatot handed me my items and a goodnight before flying off. I took both bags and went inside.

Inside the room were seven doors leading off in various directions, three had name plates over them. The one directly facing the entrance had Brandon's name in bold letters, and the two on either side were Dee's and Crystal's. Dee was sitting at a rather ornate oak wood table with several metal parts around him, his goggles on his eyes. He wiped his hands off with a cloth rag before shaking my… claw? I suppose it's a claw.

"It's nice to meet you without you nearly dead." He told me, rather bluntly too. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's not an experience I would like to feel again." I replied, looking around. I didn't even notice Dee reach behind him and hand me something. It was a metal plate with my name in it, hand engraved.

"It was a pain to carve that, so you only get the one." He told me. He took it back before nailing it on the far right door. He beckoned me over, and I followed.

"Open the door; it's your new room after all." He said. I was surprised. I reached for the door, sliding it open. I stood in awe.

Inside was a roaring fire on a brazier, a blazing inferno on a mountain of coals fit for a dragon. Solid steel steps lead up to it, and I unknowingly took a step forward, entranced by the dancing wisps moving around in the flames. I set my packs on the door near the door and turned to Dee. He was smiling.

"So, do you like it? Soth and Sun were up for hours putting it together for you, so when you see them, give them thanks." I looked at him, confused.

"Who's Soth and Sun?" Dee cocked his head at me.

"Soth and Sun are the founders of Team Blaze. An Arcanine and a Ninetails, they know fire better than most. And it shows." I turned back around to the fire, staring deep inside of it. Dee noticed this and left with a goodnight. I didn't register that he said it before the next morning. I slowly went up to the fire, and stood a step away from standing in it. The fire felt warm, but it lacked something. I took another step forward and became engulfed in the flames. It was perfect, the fire heating my skin in such a way that I melted in bliss. I fell on my back, and dug myself deep into the coals. I looked at the stone and earth ceiling, before succumbing to the warmth of fire and falling into a deep slumber.

I had completely forgotten to redo the bandages and the medicine. Well, too late now.

* * *

 **And thus ends the first chapter of the fan fiction. With the new protagonist suffering from a severe case of amnesia, barely even remembering his own name, how will this story unfold?! Hell if I know, I'm just the writer. Time for a bit of trivia!**

 **The original chapter was to be exactly 10 pages long (I write in Microsoft Word) and 5000 words long. After adding the questionnaire and author's notes, the total exceeds 6200 words!**

 **And for all you wondering, I'm trying to keep the average chapter length somewhere in the 5000's, since the 2000 word average in Pokémon Adventures! really disappoints me. Anyway, I can tell that you all are sick and tired of my rambling, and I cannot blame you. So, with a final farewell and goodbye, I conclude chapter one of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Team Strikers!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright! Time for the second installment of PMD: Team Strikers. Not much to say about this chapter, but it does slightly reveal a bit of Brandon's backstory and his tendency to flip out around Felix. The full story of Brandon's past will be in a later chapter when needed, but it touches a little upon it. Like I said, I don't have much to say in the beginning here, only to enjoy and to review. Seriously, please review. It lets me know if people like it, even a flame would do, as long as I get feedback from someone other than my friends. So, enjoy chapter 2.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of Nintendo, Pokemon, or any of the characters shown except for my own Original Characters.**

* * *

" _ **WHEN EVIL STRIKES…"**_

" _ **WE WILL STRIKE BACK!"**_

" _ **TO BATTLE!"**_

" _ **TO GLORY!"**_

" _ **TO VICTORY!"**_

I awoke to three voices shouting something. I wiped the gunk from my eyes, and sat up from my coals. They still burned just as high and just as hot as the night before. Strange, I expected them to die down a little. I looked down at my chest, seeing the tiny charred remains of my bandages. All my cuts had been cauterized from the fire, so the wrapping would be ineffective. I popped two pills since I had forgotten them the night before, hoping that they wouldn't make me pass out.

"Well, time to start…this." I muttered to myself, not really knowing how to finish my own sentence. I turned to the great oak doorway, then back to my wildfire of a bed. I sighed, gathered my pack, and went out the door.

Outside my room, and in the main room, stood Dee, Crystal, and Brandon in a saluting position. I looked at them quizzically for a moment, before jumping back in surprise when they bolted off for the main door.

"Wait, what's going on?!" I cried, nearly tripping over myself in desperation to catch up. Dee slowed down, but the other two ran out the door and took a sharp right.

"Felix? I thought you would be sleeping in?" Dee asked, cocking his head to the side again before correcting himself. I shook my head.

"Your guy's cheer woke me up." I replied, still unsure what was going on. "And what's happening?" I asked.

"Every morning once the sun peaks above the mountain top, we wake and come out to the main room for the morning chant. After we do that, we run out to the two job notice boards to see what we'll be doing tomorrow." He told me. One thing didn't make sense though…

"What do you mean, tomorrow? Wouldn't it make more sense to complete it today?" I asked, scratching the back of my smooth head. Dee shook his head.

"Well, yes and no. We take missions first thing in the morning, and get ready for them a day in advance so we don't get surprised… badly. While I showed you your room last night, Brandon and Crystal were gathering stuff for today's mission." This time I'm the one who cocked their head. Dee noticed this, and gave a little chuckle.

"Sooo, what are we doing today?" I asked. Dee reached into his bag and handed me a rather old looking slip of paper.

"Since you're new, we're doing a simple one today." He said as I looked over the request. According to this, a Spoink lost its pearl in a place called Drenched Bluff. I didn't know what else it said, but something did catch my eye.

Reward: 2000 poke.

"2000 poke? What's that?" I asked Dee, handing him the slip of paper. He looked at me funny, raising one if his eyebrows.

"You really do have some serious amnesia. Poke is money, and while normally 2000 poke would be a rather substantial reward, we're only getting ten percent of that. The rest goes to the guild." I quickly did the math in my head, and I wasn't pleased.

"Only 200?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Yeah. We usually take jobs in the 250-350 poke range, but this will be a refreshing one indeed." He finished, placing the paper into his bag. "Come on, I'll tell you what you need to know." I followed him out the door, eager to learn.

"Now, the place we'll be going is a mystery dungeon. Do you at least remember those?" Dee asked. I shook my head. He sighed, placing a paw under his chin.

"Well, I'll tell you the basics of dungeons."

"Mystery Dungeons have existed for decades, but no one truly knows how they originated. Some say it's a rift caused by the legendaries clashing over godly matters, others say it's the Banished One having fun on our mortal plane. But a few things are for certain when it comes to them."

"One; if you black out in the middle of a dungeon and are not revived in five minutes, the dungeon will expel you."

"Two; if you are expelled, you will lose all money on hand and around half your items."

"And three; never, under any circumstances, stay on a dungeon floor for more than an hour."

"What happens if you stay for more than an hour?" I asked.

"No one truly knows, but you are kicked out by some unforeseen force. If you leave this way, you'll lose everything on hand. Sometimes, even pokemon themselves have been lost in the labyrinths, never too been seen again." He finished, stopping in the middle of the top floor. He turned to me, and placed a paw on my shoulder.

"I'll tell you a little secret; you will be the only one fighting today." I took a step back.

"Fighting what, exactly?" Dee chuckled.

"Why, the Desolates, of course." I waved my arms on front of him, signaling him to stop.

"Okay then…what are…desolates?" I asked him. He smiled.

"Rouge pokemon. Lately, they've gone a little bit crazy, so whenever another pokemon enters their line of sight, they attack. Luckily for you, Drenched Bluff is considered a beginners dungeon. Not too hard, but gives a little challenge the first few times around." He finished, hopping up the ladder to go outside. I followed him up, and into the harsh morning sunlight. I shielded my eyes, and looked around. It was definitely a different sight to behold on a hillside, looking down. If I looked closely, I could make out the top of the hospital I was in, just barely clearing the treetops. I could see two figures at the base of the hill, by the crossroads. Dee slid down, and I slowly went after him. I nearly tumbled down several times, but I managed to clutch the tall grass and stop myself.

"About time you two got down here." Brandon huffed as we came into earshot.

"Well excuse me; I was informing our newest companion about the dungeon." Dee answered, taking the bag offered by Crystal. Brandon crossed his brow and turned away once he looked at me. I frowned, not knowing the reason why. Crystal took the lead, and without another word, we made for the dungeon.

 **Drenched Bluff BF1**

The inside of the dungeon wasn't nearly as easy as Dee made it out to be; the room was dripping water, and every time a drop touched my skin, it sizzled and stung me. Brandon seemed to enjoy the water; Dee and Crystal were indifferent to it. It wasn't long before I found something.

"Uh, guys? What is that?" I asked nervously, seeing a strange shape crawling toward us. Dee looked up and shook his head.

"It's just a Shellder. A few attacks should be more than enough to take it out." He pulled out a map from the pack and looked at it, not truly caring. I turned back to the Shellder, and saw it frothing at the… can't really say mouth since it didn't have a visible one. Without warning, it shot a stream of water right at me! I ducked, causing the water to go straight over me and smack Brandon in the side. Ignoring the curses from the green gecko, I stared at the creature, and I felt something. An internal kick, making me want to do something. I followed its silent order, fell to all fours, clenched my gut, and opened my mouth.

What happened was comical and devastating. A great ball of fire shot from my maw and collided with the shelled attacker. It squealed in pain before running off.

"Damn Felix. Might want to dial it down a little next time." I turned to acknowledge, only seeing the fire on the end of my tail had grown to the size of my head. I took a step in shock and wonder. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Brandon taking several steps back, staring uncomfortably at my flame.

The rest of the floor was uneventful. We found the stairs down shortly after.

 **Drenched Bluff BF2**

"What on earth is this?" I asked to no one in particular, finding a rather large golden coin half way buried into the ground. I grasped it with my claws, and yanked it out.

"Nice find Felix. That is a poke coin. They vary in value, but one way is easy to tell. The bigger and thicker the coin, the more value." Crystal informed me in her soothing voice. Brandon walked up and snatched it from me, placing it in his own bag.

"Twenty more poke for the group. I've seen better." He growled, staying away from my flame. I continued on down a hallway, seeing a room with some more golden coins. I dashed off, ignoring the shouts to stop. I couldn't resist the call; the gold spoke to me and whispered things. I was naturally drawn to them, like a moth to a flame.

I grabbed the first coin I could see, this one being many times larger than the other one. I had to hold it with two hands just to look at it. I turned around to grab another, but was confronted with a large blue slug instead. I spun around, only to see several shelled creatures unlike the Shellder I fought earlier. I looked around; I was surrounded in all sides! I closed my eyes, waiting for the onslaught of stinging and painful water.

 _WHOOMPH!_

I felt weightless for a fraction of a second, before touching down back on solid ground. I opened my eyes, seeing only Brandon and Crystal. Dee stood behind me, holding a strange looking blue orb. Brandon stormed up to me and slapped me across the face and took my coin. I reached up to feel the imprint he made as tears welt up in my eyes.

"Idiot! Have you no common sense! Never run into a Monster House! We had to use our last Rollcall orb to save your dumb ass!" He shouted, staring at the coin.

"Figures a _drake_ like you would be drawn to gold." He tossed away the coin. He spat the word like it was poison, staring at me with nothing but cold hate in his eyes. Tears spilled from my eyes, and I back up into Dee's legs. I looked behind me, seeing Dee staring down Brandon like he was no more than a child.

"Watch your mouth and your actions Brandon. I know what his kind did to you, but to act this way…" Dee didn't finish his sentence seeing Brandon storm off into the Monster House. Crystal stood in shock of what happened. She looked at me, and at seeing me crying, knelt down at looked into my eyes.

"Brandon was hurt a long time ago by members of your species. He was hurt very badly, and vowed to wipe out the entirety of Fire types from Cyin. So when we found you on that beach, he wanted to leave you to die. He despises all dragons, fire or not." Crystal hugged me, trying to get me to calm down. Dee went off in the direction of Brandon, probably to get him to calm down.

The rest of the floors went in utter silence. Neither Brandon nor I made eye contact.

 **Drenched Bluff BF7**

"Looks like we found it." Dee nudged my shoulder, pointing ahead of us. A shining pink pearl stuck out from the water. Wordlessly, I went over plucked it out from the water, and gave it to Dee to hold. I pushed on my badge as told, and was teleported back to the guild.

… … …

"Hey, Dee?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there a place I can train?"

"Mews Moves. The legendary herself has help dungeon crawlers for millennia, and she will always help those who need it."

That was the conversation I had with Dee over an hour ago. We were given the reward from a rather happy Spoink, and I pulled Dee away from the team to ask him. He told me about this place, and now I stood in front of its doors, clutching my tail nervously.

 _I feel you, child. Enter._

My eyes enlarged and I nearly ran away in fear. The only thing that stayed my feet was the fact that the voice sounded familiar. I entered the large building, felt the sand between my toes, and saw her.

A floating pink cat was waiting in the middle of the room, staring at me with gigantic blue eyes.

 _Welcome, my child. With what do you need?_ It asked again it its soothing and calm voice. It simply radiated good feelings and it calmed me.

"Child?" I asked it.

 _Yes. I am known as the Great goddess Mew, mother to all living and dead. I call everyone, even the Perfect One, my child._

"Oh. Well, I need help to learn to attack. I have amnesia, and I don't remember how." Mew flew over to me, and touched my forehead with hers. A blinding white light enveloped her, and I had to close my eyes. When I opened them back up, a Charmander stood before me. I took a step back before asking.

"Mew?" The Charmander giggled, turning back into Mew. She floated just a foot above my head.

 _I apologize with taking DNA without permission; I hadn't taken a Charmander in such a long time, I had completely forgotten._

"It's…uh, it's fine." I stammered out.

 _Well, child. Are you ready to learn the ways of the flame?_

I hesitantly nodded, holding my tail between my paws. Mew turned back into a Charmander, and dropped to all fours.

 _Very well. Have you ever fought before?_

I nodded, remembering the Shellder.

 _Did you notice anything… odd? A certain feeling you may have experienced?_

"I felt a tug, a kick, in my gut when I fought."

 _Good. That is known by fire types as the 'Flames Call'. It sort of pulls your body into the stance that had been engraved in your brain since you were born. When the flames call activates, the inner beast takes control of your body and tells you how to react, were it be to dodge or to maul._

 _Fire types are known for three things above all else. They are pride, temper, and power._

 _When a fire type is angered, their ember flares. In this case, since you're a Charmander, your ember is external. This means you are easier to predict and to defeat, but it also means that you are stronger than other fire types._ _This also happens when the pride of a fire type is hurt._

 _The stronger your ember shows, the more power you have. When I created the first fire type, I gifted them a shard of the first star. Throughout time, the shard dulled down to an ember. However, even the weakest fire type has the power to move mountains. I made them this way, and am happy with the way they evolved._

"So, if I'm angry, I deal more damage?" I asked, getting the gist of the explanation.

 _Yes. When your Flames Call activates, try and get angry. Sometimes, if your flame is large enough the enemy will back down without attacking. The larger the flame, the larger your strength._

"But, I haven't been angry. I'm too much of a wimp." I looked down, twirling my tail between my claws shyly. I felt a pressure on my chin, and I looked up. I saw the deepness of Mew's magnificent blue eyes, and how they sparkled in the torchlight.

 _Everyone has their limits, and I suppose I'll have to find yours._

She backed away from me, but not before slapping me with the side of her tail. Hard. Whimpering, I rubbed the side of my face that she had slapped.

"Why'd you do that?" I whined, tears welling up in my eyes. She prodded me with the tip of her tail, leaving a mark. She continued to poke, jab, and otherwise hit me.

"Please… *sob* just stop…" I cried, tears flowing down as I curled into a ball on the floor, tucking my tail around me. She floated away, placing a paw under her chin.

 _Hmm, you are a tough nut to crack… perhaps, this will help._

She transformed into another, and between my tears I saw that she turned into a Riolu, more specifically Dee. She then proceeded to punch and slap herself, making it look like Dee beating himself up.

"Don't…don't do that *sob* to Dee…" I whispered between my crying. She continued to punch, bruises showing.

"Stop… stop doing that already…" I spoke, louder this time. She didn't relent. I slowly stood up, and turned to face her.

"I said… STOP!" I shouted this time, the tears still flowing freely down my face. I felt the kick deep down in my gut, and I listened without a seconds hesitation. It told me to act like my claws were stone and to rake them across Dee's/Mews face. Before I could even act, however, Dee vanished from view, stunning me. Mew reappeared, scaring me and caused me to fall on my butt.

 _Looks like I found your limit._

 _You can't stand being hit at all, but if a friend is injured, that is what makes you snap. You're temper isn't linked to personal pain; it's linked to emotional pain. Rare, but definitely not impossible._

"So, what does that mean?" I asked her, picking myself up and dusting the dirt off.

 _It means that you're ember ignites if and apparently only if an ally is hurt. Take a look behind you, and see what state your ember is now in._

I looked behind me, seeing my tail flame had grown twice its normal size. I stared at it, not moving until I heard a giggle from Mew.

 _Well, now I suppose I should teach you about different ways to attack now, should I?_

 _What attack did you use when you fought?_

"I…uh. I shot a ball of fire at it." I answered.

 _That is called the basic 'Ember' attack. It is known by nearly all fire types from birth, and is a simple but effective way of offence. I am not surprised to know that you used it. Anything else, or is that all?_

"I only fought once, and only that attack, so yeah."

 _Then let us try a simple move. I will teach you the support move known as 'Smokescreen'._

 _Now, I want you to prepare an ember attack, but right before it leaves your mouth, I want you to stop it and lightly exhale. Be careful not to blow too deeply, it might cause you to use a much, much more devastating attack. Quickly now, while your tail still burns bright._

Okay then, I need to try and catch a ball of fire with my tongue. This sounds easy, I thought to myself as I felt the ember burn inside me. The first time I mistimed it, just shooting a normal ember at the wall. The second time I caught it in my mouth, but was so excited that I did so I forgot to exhale and instead burned my entire mouth. The third time was much like the first, only I nearly hit Mew when she wasn't looking. The fourth time I succeeded, blowing a small amount of thick, black smoke around me.

 _Nicely done! And you only slightly singed my fur. That's more than I can say for most first timers, but you did well. Whenever you use smokescreen, remember to inhale as deep as you can. You'll get a much longer and thicker screen than if you just give out a puff._

 _Now, I believe that's all I can teach you for tonight. Come back anytime if you need help._

"Thank you Mew, I appreciate it." I thanked her as I left, but not before one more surprise.

 _Felix, before you go let me show you something._

I turned around to face Mew, only to be greeted by a massive orange dragon with wings. It stood taller than Auster, and looked like it could level a forest.

 _This, is the great and powerful Charizard! With enough training and experience, you too will join it one day in the skies. This pokemon is capable of overpowering the strongest of dragons, and it doesn't even stand among them type-wise. Many fear it, but nearly all respect it for the power it has. Now go and rest for tonight, for you have earned it little one._

I stood in awe, struck by the great dragons' strength. It needed no show of power, it simply radiated it. With a large smile on my face, I thanked Mew again before leaving for the guild.

… … …

"And where the hell have you been, _drake!?_ " Brandon spat in my face when I tried to enter the team bunks.

"I was-."

"You know what?! I don't care. I don't care if you just saved the damn world! You are nothing to me, and you never will be. So just get the hell away from here and crawl into whatever dirt filled hole you came from!" He slammed the door shut, leaving me outside. I stood there for a minute, completely shocked and scared by him. I pressed my ear up against the door, hearing shouting from inside. I couldn't make out the words, only those shouting.

Dee was fighting with Brandon, and I heard Crystal trying to break it up every so often. It continued for what felt like ages, until…

"Fine! Take in the damn drake and see what I care! But know this, he _will_ betray us, and he _will_ laugh in glee as our carcasses burn into the ground for him to feast upon!" Brandon screamed, slamming a door. A moment passed before I saw Dee open the door, looking at me.

"How about we pack for tomorrow while Crystal calms down Brandon?" he asked, walking up to the ladder, a leather pouch chingling away at his waist. I followed him up the ladder, and down the blue one into the shops.

"Alright. Take this money and go deposit it in the bank. Tell Mismagius that you're a member of our team, and she'll deposit it for us. I'll right across the way getting stuff for the trip, alright?" I nodded, taking the sack of money from Dee. I made my way up to the bank and waited while the ghostly witch put money away for someone else.

"Come here, dearie. And whose team are you on?" she asked me in a sickly sweet voice. Just hearing it sent chills up my spine.

"Uhh, I'm, uhh…" I stammered out, managing to say 'Team Strikers' before handing her the pouch. She accepted it, and vanished from sight. She reappeared, and handed me a slip of paper.

"That's for withdraws, dearie. Come again…" she told me as I backed away. She scared me all to the core, and the voice didn't help. I backed up into Dee as he was taking to Alon.

"Finished with the bank Felix? Alon, this is the new addition to our team." Dee grabbed me and introduced me to the Gallade. He shook my hand, a smile never leaving his face.

"Nice to meet you Felix. Names Alon Silversmith, and I run the storage facilities here in the Wigglytuff Guild." He said as he opened a drawer and pulled several things out for Dee.

"Is this all the Oran Berries we have left, Alon? I thought we had more." Dee asked, holding several small blue berries.

"Sorry Dee. It's all you have left in storage. Unless you want to pull out your golden supply of Sitrus Berries, you'll have to go into town for more healing items." Alon replied, shrugging. Dee frowned, shaking his head.

"No, Brandon will only get more pissed if I do that, and he's not in a good mood to begin with." Dee shook his head before tossing the berries into his bag.

"We'll just head into town early tomorrow morning. Should get first pickings if were lucky." He slung he bag over his shoulder before nodding to Alon and heading down the ladder. I followed him, and crawled down the sets of ladders until we reached the bottom floor and our door. Dee slowly pushed the door open, peeked inside, and ushered me in.

"I'll wake you up a little before Brandon gets up so you can join our morning chant." He whispered, slowly going over to his room. I did the same and creaked open my door and closed it. I set the bag right by the door, and crawled into my coals, wondering why Brandon hates me so. Right before I shut my eyes and drifted off to sleep, I heard shouting coming from Brandon's room.

 **(P.O.V. CHANGE: 3** **RD** **PERSON, IN BRANDON'S ROOM.)**

"I just can't stand his kind. Burning things like it's their job. It sickens me." Brandon muttered angrily.

"Brandon, I know what happened, but you have to put it behind you. It's been what, 13 years since it happened?" Crystal asked him, sitting across from him.

"14, now. But what does it matter? His kind killed my entire village, and I'm just supposed to let that go?!" He shouted, getting riled up again. Crystal has been trying to calm him down since they got back from Drenched Bluff, but he hasn't stopped in the slightest. His hate for fire burns more than ever now that the thing he despises most is with him at all times.

"Brandon, I'm not saying you should just forgive and forget, but…"

"But what Crystal, but what?!"

"Maybe you should at least stay yourself around Felix. I've never seen you so worked up like this. I mean, you _hit him._ I have never seen you do that, even to fire types."

"Maybe I'm just finally losing my mind from all the stress. I mean, I agree with you. I haven't hit anyone like that before, not even Dee when he lost six Reviver Seeds. But something about him is… off. I can't explain it, but something just isn't right about Felix." Brandon lied down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling.

"Crystal, would you sing me that lullaby you sang when we were kids?" She was taken aback by this; he hasn't asked for that in years. Nonetheless, he was her best friend, and she wouldn't say no. She smiled.

"I just hope I remember it all." And then she sang.

 _When daylight turns to night…_

 _And the moooon shines bright._

 _When you're tucked in tight,_

 _And when everything's alright._

 _Slip softly to that place,_

 _Where secrets thoughts run free,_

 _There come face to face_

 _With who you want to be, so_

 _Swim across the ocean blue_

 _Fly a rocket to the moon;_

 _You can change your life,_

 _Or you can change the world._

 _Take the chance, don't be afraid_

 _Life is you're to live._

 _Take a chance and then the best has yet to come._

 _Make a wish, it's up to you._

 _Find the strength inside,_

 _Then watch your dreams come true._

 _You don't need a shooting star,_

 _The magic's right there in your heart;_

 _Close your eyes…_

 _And make a wish._

 _I've always hoped for happiness,_

 _And finally fulfilled my wish_

 _Cause I just need to see you smile._

 _Make a wish, it's up to you_

 _Watch your dreams come true_

 _The magic's right there in your heart_

 _Make a wish, it's up to you_

 _Find the strength inside,_

 _Then watch your dreams come true_

 _You don't need a shooting star;_

 _The magic's right there in your heart;_

 _Close your eyes,_

 _Believe and make a wish,_

 _Make a wish…_

She stopped singing, surprised at herself that she remembered it in the entirety. She turned and looked at Brandon, seeing he had fallen asleep. She lightly kissed him on the forehead, before leaving and going to her own room.

* * *

 **And that will end it for Chapter 2! The ending song is Make a Wish, first shown in the sixth Pokémon movie (I think it's the sixth one) Jirachi wish maker. And no, as of right now I have no intentions of Brandon and Crystal hooking up. I mean, it would suck to have your **** frozen off while inside her ******, am I right fellas? No, yeah I didn't think so. Well anyway, send me a review and keep enjoying the fan fiction, and I will meet you all again in chapter 3. But before that…**

 **Trivia time!**

 **The three Pokémon who original made up Team Strikers (Crystal, Dee, Brandon) have their species first letter match perfectly in the team name. Crystal, who is a Sneasel. Brandon, who is a Treecko, and Dee, who is a Riolu.**

 **S.T.R. ikers. Now that is one hell of a coincidence, am I right? Truth be told, I didn't even realize that until I finished writing this chapter. Okay, now I'm done. I'll meet you all in chapter three. Peace out all my viewers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay then! Time for chapter three! This one has a major boss fight, and I think has the best ending I could write for it. I rewrote the boss fight I think four times before landing on this one. It also took me awhile to figure out how to incorporate the Dimensional Scream, but I got it fairly well. Well, enough with my talk and writing the author's notes longer and longer to bolster the word count.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing of Nintendo, Pokemon, or any of the characters shown except for my own Original Characters.**

* * *

"Felix…Felix…FELIX!" I awoke with a start, floundering around in my coals like a Magikarp out of water. I had forgotten Dee was to wake me before the morning chant so I could participate. I quickly looked out the window placed in my room, only to see it was still pitch black outside.

"Hey, what gives?" I complained, digging myself out of the coals. "I thought you said you would wake me up just before dawn."

"Did I now… Well, you're awake now, and that's what matters." He patted me on the back before pulling me into the main room.

"The main reason I woke you up so early is to teach you the Team Mantra." Dee told me after I had actually woken up. He paced back and forth in front of me.

"You mean that thing you all shouted yesterday?"

"Precisely! Every member knows it by heart, and you are no exception."

"Dee, there's only three… four now, but there aren't many members and the chant is short."

"Can I at least have this moment?" he asked, stopping in front of me. I shrugged.

"Thank you. Every team has a chant they speak when they first awaken to get them pumped for the day. Team Strikers is simple, yet effective." He cleared his throat.

"When evil strikes… We will strike back! To battle, to glory, to victory!" he finished.

"Okay. So when everyone's awake, then we shout it?" I asked.

"Only when Brandon calls for it. Until then, we can relax." He sat down in the nearest chair, and pulled out several mechanical parts and started tinkering with them. I sat down next to him, and looked over his shoulder trying to see what he was doing. It looked like he was making some sort of brace for an arm. Maybe armor? Before I could question him on it, I heard two doors open. I turned around and saw a sleepy Sneasel and a tired Treecko. I locked eyes with Brandon, but he looked away quickly. He inhaled a large amount, before shouting;

"Team Strikers, what do we do?!" he shouted after taking a deep breath.

"Strike evil down!"

"And how do we do it?!"

"By striking first!"

"When evil strikes…"

"We will strike back!" This time I also shouted, not knowing about the first two lines before.

"To battle!"

"To glory!"

"To victory!"

I shouted with Dee and Crystal on the last four lines, silently blaming Dee about not telling me about the first two. Brandon tossed everyone a bag, including me surprisingly enough.

"Alright team. Today we'll be heading to another mission in Drenched Bluff. Anyone have any objections." Dee quickly raised his paw before Brandon would skip it.

"We're running low on Oran Berries, and I was hoping that I and Felix could run into town to grab some." Brandon nodded.

"Sounds good. Meet us on the second floor, we'll go from there." Both myself and Dee ran out the door, leaving Crystal and Brandon in our wake. Crystal turned to Brandon, happiness in her eyes.

"You didn't yell at him!" Brandon sighed.

"It took so much not to, but yeah. As long as he doesn't pester me during the mission, I'll manage."

… … …

"Alright Felix. Did anyone show you around Treasure town?" I shook my head.

"Only time I was actually here was when I was training with Mew. Other than that I ran through or didn't stop to look." He sighed, pulling me over to a directory.

"Okay then. Right over here is Marowak Dojo. He's somehow able to control dungeons, but only small ones. He'll send you in for training, so if you have free time I highly suggest it."

"Down here is Chansey Daycare. Sometimes rescue clients give teams eggs as rewards, so you leave them there to hatch."

"Just north of there is the Kecleon Shop. That's where we'll be going." He finished, pointing to a spot not far from here. "Other than that, those being the main stops for any explorer, there's just a few specialty shops and the hospital. And Mew." I nodded in reply, and we ran over to the Kecleon shop, passing other rescue teams on the way.

"Welcome to the Kecleon shop!" I was surprised to see that the store owners were brothers, one normally colored and one a strange shade of purple.

"Hello. You two got any Oran Berries?" Dee asked. The purple one ducked behind the counter and pulled out a wooden crate.

"How many you need?" he asked.

"Four should be plenty."

"That'll be 100 poke." Dee reached into his bag and pulled out two large coins and handed them to the brothers, placing the small berries into his bag. Dee turned and motioned to leave.

"Misters Kecleon!" I stopped in my tracks, not wanting to run into the two pokemon running up.

"Ah, hello Marill and Azurill! What shall it be today? The usual, I presume?" The green Kecleon asked. The larger of the two, who I assume to be Marill, placed three medium sized coins on the counter.

"Two large apples please." The purple Kecleon ducked behind the counter and pulled out a paper bag, presumably with the apples. They exchanged items, and the two blue pokemon scampered off. The green one turned to us as the purple one vanished into the hut behind them.

"You see, those two are brothers. Their mother recently became sick as a Houndoom, so they've taken up the family mantle and started buying the groceries." He turned to look at the two retreating figure, his eyes softening. Dee nodded, adjusting his bag.

"Yeah, I heard about their father. Nasty what happened to him."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Hunting party of Luxray. Never would wish that fate on anyone." Dee finished.

"Misters Kecleon!" I turned and saw the two brothers' running back up, Marill holding the paper bag.

"Misters Kecleon, there were three apples in the bag. We only paid for two." Marill told him. Kecleon smiled and patted his head.

"Consider that a gift to both of you from me and my brother. You may split it amongst yourselves for a treat." The Marill and Azurill's eyes grew, and they smiled, thanking him profusely. Kecleon waved it off, saying it's nothing. They turned to leave, but Marill tripped and the bag split open. I went forward and handed it to Azurill, who was standing right beside me.

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble." When I handed Azurill the apple, my claw grazed his skin. After they left the shop, I took a step forward to leave, but stopped. I felt dizzy, like I was going to pass out. My vision faltered, and I heard a voice, shouting for help.

"H…h…h…help!"

My eyes snapped open, and my ember grew slightly. That sounded exactly like Azurill, not a question about it.

"Uh, you okay Felix?"

"Dee, did you hear a cry for help just now?"

"Just now? Uh, can't say I did. Hey Kecleon?" he turned to him. "Did you hear a cry for help?" Kecleon shook his head.

"No. Why?"

"No reason." Dee quickly pushed me forward and out of earshot of the shopkeepers.

"Okay. You say you heard a voice." I nodded.

"Yeah, it sounded like Azurill." Dee chuckled.

"Is the heat getting to you? Do you want the day off or something?" I shook my head.

"No, I definitely heard Azurill scream for help." Dee shook his head impassively at me.

"Come on, Brandon and Crystal is waiting for us." He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I pulled myself out of his grip and walked with him until we got to Treasure Plaza. Off to the side I could see Marill and Azurill really excited about something. I wonder if it had to do with the Drowzee they were talking to.

"Marill! Azurill! What happened, you win the lottery?" Dee asked once we came into earshot. Marill shook his head. "No, even better. A long, long time ago we lost a very important item to us. Mr. Drowzee here says he's seen it somewhere, and is going to take us to it!" Dee smiled.

"That's excellent news." He turned to Drowzee. "It's excellent that good people are still around." Drowzee nodded, a joyful expression on his face.

"Yes. When I heard about the boy's predicament here, it struck such a blow to my heart. But a memory surfaced, and I recalled the item that they so very seek!"

"Well, that is good." I said, nodding to all three of them.

"Well, if you'll excuse us, we should be off. No time like the present, I always say." Marill, Azurill, and Drowzee all took off for the crossroads. Before that however, Drowzee bumped into me, knocking flat on the ground.

"I'm so very sorry." Was all he said before dashing off after the two brothers. Once he left with the brothers, the dizzy feeling came surging back into me. Before I could react, my vision faded again, and was replaced with a vision.

Drowzee and Azurill were talking, but Marill was nowhere to be seen. Drowzee took a menacing step forward Azurill, greed clouding his vision.

"Listen here you little brat! You're going to help me, otherwise I'm going to put you in a world of hurt!" he snarled. Azurill cowered behind his tail and screamed.

"H…h…h…help!"

The vision faded, and I was staring at a confused Dee.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the day off?" he asked as he helped me up.

"N…no. im fine." I shook my head, but continued thinking about the vision and scream I heard. Drowzee seemed nice, but I couldn't shake the vision. I bumped into Dee, nearly knocking us both over.

"Felix. I'm starting to get worried. First you imagine a scream from Azurill, and then you black out after Drowzee knocked into you, and now your spacing out and nearly knocked both of us over. Are you positive that you are fine?" Dee asked me, placing his paws on my shoulders. Nervous, I told him about my vision. He slowly backed up, lowering his arms. He crossed his eyes, and stared at me.

"That does it. You are taking the day off due to… whatever is going on. And that's final." He grabbed my arm before pulling me towards the guild. Despite my complaints and protests, his grip didn't soften and he dragged me down to the first floor of the Wigglytuff Guild. I saw Brandon and Crystal standing in front of a blank Outlaw notice board, doing nothing. I pulled myself out of Dee's grip, and hurried over to them.

"Why are you guys just waiting there?" Upon hearing my voice, Brandon took a large step away from me, but answered my question.

"We were thinking of taking out an outlaw tomorrow, but when we got up here, all the jobs were taken. We're waiting for them to be updated." I nodded.

"And how long does that take?" I asked.

"Should be soon." Brandon answered, annoyance starting to creep back into his voice. Getting the nod to shut up, I took a step back and fought Dee to stay. He finally relented, saying that if I have one more black out like that I'm taking the day off without any complaining. When I turned back to the others, the board had been flipped around, and a cross pattern was visible. Crystal muttered something about him being late (I later learned that she was talking about Dugtrio), and the board flipped back over. Dozens of new requests were visible, but the thing that caught my attention was Dee. He was shaking, but not in fear.

"Felix, please tell me you see the same pokemon. Upper Left." I looked where he said, and was shocked.

Drowzee was wanted.

I silently and with a shaking hand reached up and grabbed the flyer, looking closer at it. I handed it to Crystal, anger and fear causing me to shake uncontrollably.

"What's so special about this guy, other than the fact he's an A-rank mission?" I quickly relayed what had happened to Brandon and Crystal, including my visions. Both confused gazes were quickly replaced with determined and angry ones, and we quickly bolted out the door.

Down the crossroads, we saw a blue figure pacing back and forth, muttering to itself. Seeing it was Marill, I picked up the pace until I was in earshot.

"Marill! Where's Drowzee and Azurill!?" I shouted, nearly tumbling into him. He looked at us, his eyes red from crying.

"Drowzee took *sniff* Azurill to… *sob* Mt. Bristle." Brandon's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"Did you say Mt. Bristle?!" he shouted, surprising us all. Marill nodded, causing Brandon to curse loudly.

"We haven't got a moment to lose! Quickly, we must go after them!"

… … …

MT. BRISTLE F1

"Brandon! You still haven't told us why Mt. Bristle has gotten you so worked up!" I shouted after him, he being a good few dozen feet ahead.

"This place is filled with powerful Desolates! Many teams have trouble scaling the mountain, even the most experienced!" he shouted behind him, picking up the pace again. We sprinted by multiple Pokémon, not even stopping long enough for me to see what kinds they are. After nearly exhausting ourselves, we found the stairs to the next floor.

MT. BRISTLE F2

"Shouldn't have eaten such a large breakfast…" Brandon muttered and Dee carried him. Once we made it up the stairs into the next floor, he had collapsed in stomach pains. We quietly trudged along, making sure Brandon didn't pass out just yet. We rounded the corner and I was met with a rather large rock being hurled at my head. I instinctively ducked, but was met with another rock into my gut. Holding back tears from the pain, I looked up to see a gargantuan boulder with four arms sneering at me, two of his arms holding more rocks. I managed to react fast enough to dodge the first one, but was struck again by the second, sending me crashing into the wall. It felt like I popped something inside of me, and this time tears started flowing down my face. Before the boulder could take a step towards me, however, multiple ice shards struck its grinning face, sending it reeling a few feet back. I looked back to see Dee guarding Brandon from a large quadruped pink creature with a large horn, and Crystal staring down the boulder, three ice shards in hand. Quick as lightning, she tossed them, striking the boulder in the arms and one of his legs.

"You alright Felix?" she asked me after hitting the boulder. I nodded weakly, turning my attention back to the fight at hand. I jumped into the air, sending an ember at the boulder before it could move, the ice slowing it down. Once my fire connected with Crystal's ice stuck on its body, it shrieked in pain as the superheated water trickled down its body.

I know how that feels I thought to myself, landing on all fours near Crystal. She turned to me.

"I got the Graveler; you help Dee with the Nidorino." I nodded, limping over to Dee's fight.

He was fighting hand to hand with the pink beast, taking care not to touch any of its spikes sticking out of its back. Brandon was leaned up against the wall, clutching his stomach in pain. Seeing an opportunity, I quickly lobbed fire at the Nidorino, causing it to give an opening for Dee to hit its exposed stomach. It landed on its back, receiving another punch and fireball from Dee and me, respectively. It got up and ran off, squealing in pain.

"Thanks for the assist." Dee thanked me as I chomped on an Oran Berry, feeling the pain from the Graveler gradually vanish. Crystal walked up, shaking her claws off.

"I put that rock on ice. He's not going anywhere." All three of us nodded, Brandon managing to walk again. We entered a room, seeing two different colored seeds on the ground in front of the staircase. I picked them up before tossing them to Dee to inspect.

"Stun seed and Blast seed. That'll come in handy." He said, pocketing the two. We all ran up the stairs, eager to find Drowzee.

MT. BRISTLE F6

"Hey, so how did you three meet, if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned as we walked. Crystal pondered that for a minute, before answering.

"Well, Brandon and I met when we were kids. He left his forest after the incident, and moved into my village. He was rescued by the guildmaster and Chatot, and brought to my family as an orphan. We met Dee, what three years ago?" she turned to Dee for confirmation.

"Actually, it was four." He told her, hands behind his head.

"Well, we met him four years ago, and after asking all our families, decided to form a rescue team." She finished. Brandon nodded. I stopped as I recognized an item on the ground, but it looked different to me. I saw that it was a berry, but it was shaped and colored slightly different than an Oran berry.

"That is a Chesto berry. Used to wake Pokémon who fell asleep, and can always come in handy." Dee answered my question before I could answer it, picking up the berry.

"How does it do that?" I asked him.

"Caffeine and the taste. Berry is dry as Brandon's humor."

"Shut up." He snarled. The rest of us laughed and continued walking until we found the stairs.

MT. BRISTLE F9

"According to the map," Dee explained. "The next floor is the summit, where hopefully we'll find Drowzee and Azurill." We all nodded, the flames of determination burning in our eyes. We were lucky enough to scale the mountain with minimal fights, only the ones on the second and fifth floors giving us much trouble. Strangely the dungeon seemed barren; pokemon and items were scarce. On this floor we got lucky; the stair up were in the same room that we entered, so we entered, ready to fight Drowzee.

MT. BRISTLE PEAK

We scrambled up the stairs, running around the tip of the mountain, and came to a clearing. We took cover behind a pile of stone, and we peeked over the top. Drowzee and Azurill stood in the middle of the clearing, walking over to a microscopic hole in the wall.

"Mr. Drowzee, I don't see my item anywhere. Are you sure it's here?" Azurill asked. I could hear them both clearly; the stones rebounded the sound.

"Azurill, I need you to do something real quick." Drowzee asked him. "You see that hole in the wall? I need you to go into it."

Azurill looked at him before shaking his head. "Is my item in there?" Drowzee sneered, scaring Azurill.

"I'm going to be honest with you, kid. Inside that hole is rumored to be filled with treasure, gold, and riches. A thieves hold, it has more money than your wildest dreams." Azurill took a step back, shaking.

"Wait, where's my brother?! Is he lost?" he stammered, looking around. Drowzee shook his head, smiling wider now.

"You're brother isn't coming, hell, no one is. So I suggest you get in that hole!" Azurill shrieked silently, before running away from Drowzee and towards us. For a second I dared to hope Azurill would make it, but faster than I could perceive, Drowzee blocked his escape attempt.

"Listen here you little brat! You're going to help me; otherwise I'm going to put you in a world of hurt!" Azurill cowered behind his tail, and screamed.

"H…h…h…help!" Before I could make a move, Brandon snarled, and took off towards the outlaw and captive. Crystal and Dee followed, and I was left in the dust. I grabbed the bag Dee had left, and tore after them.

"Drowzee! We are here to arrest you!" Brandon shouted, the rest of us still trying to catch up to him. Drowzee turned and looked surprised to see us, even more so when he noticed me and Dee.

"So, it's you two again. Looks like you brought some backup." He stood in front of Azurill, blocking him from view. By now we all stood next to Brandon, I still stood away so he wouldn't be distracted by me.

"Damn straight. You can either surrender your self now, or be beaten senseless by Rescue Team Strikers!" I shouted, trying not to cower behind my own tail. As much as I knew we had to defeat Drowzee, he still scared me. Both Dee and Crystal nodded, Brandon still staring down Drowzee. He scoffed, opening his arms.

"Well, if a rescue team who has never captured an outlaw over D-rank thinks they can best me, an A-class outlaw like myself, then give it your best shot!" he shouted, changing into a fighting stance.

"Strikers! Charge!" Brandon shouted, taking three steps back along with Crystal. Dee stormed forward, his fists glowing a bright white. I stood between them all, dropped to all fours, and prepared an ember. Drowzee smirked, and held his hands out in front of him, a green barrier forming in front of him. Dee collided with the barrier, only to be shot back with force from Drowzee. Both Brandon and Crystal shot several projectiles, Brandon shooting small green pellets of energy, Crystal firing more icicles. I felt my tail burn brighter, and I shot an ember with them. Drowzee summoned another barrier, this one orange in color, and stopped all three attacks cold. He grabbed two of the icicles before they deformed and shot them at Brandon, nearly hitting him and freezing the ground underneath. Dee tore a chunk out of the ground and lobbed it at Drowzee, and I sent another ember with it, but again, it was blocked by the orange barrier. Before anyone else could react, Drowzee's eyes turned blue, and the pile of stone we previously hid behind floated up into the air, and hurled themselves at the two ranged shooters. Brandon tried to move out of the way, but slipped on the ice and was struck by several of the rocks before being launched away. Crystal barely had enough time to dodge, and was pinned by one of the larger rocks.

"My, my. Looks like I'll be having some fun tonight!" Drowzee shouted, hurling the final two rocks at myself and Dee. Dee simply punched the rock into pieces, and I ducked out of the way.

"Brandon! Crystal! You two okay?!" Dee shouted, trying to get an opening on Drowzee.

"Yeah… *cough* im fine, just a little stuck." Crystal shouted, summoning more icicles to hurl at Drowzee.

"I think he cracked my throwing arm with that last one, but other than that I can fight!" Brandon replied, firing more of the green pellets. Both Crystals and Brandon's attacks were once again stopped by the orange barrier, but this time cracks appeared on its surface. Drowzee's eyes turned blue again and Dee was lifted into the air, crying in pain and holding his head.

"Confusion. How's that headache, jackal?" Drowzee sneered as he continued to inflict more pain to Dee. Seeing this, my ember roared, and I sprinted towards him. I managed to catch him off guard, shattering the orange barrier and tackling him to the ground. He lost his concentration on Dee, and he landed headfirst onto the rocky ground.

"You insignificant, worthless, brat!" Drowzee shouted, trying to get a grip on me. I managed to slither away, but not before leaving a smokescreen in my wake. Seeing this, Brandon charged forward, his head shining blue with energy. He dived into the smoke cloud, and I heard him cry in pain. A few seconds passed by, and I looked over to Crystal. She was still creating more icicles, dozens of them floating around her. I turned back around just in time to see Brandon fly out of the smoke, covered in cuts and fast asleep. Drowzee stepped out of the smoke, grinning evilly.

"You four are nothing compared to me. In just five minutes, I incapacitated two, trapped one, and now just have to deal with a lonely little charmander. Well, denizen of flames, won't you attack me so I can get this over with already?!" he shouted, charging towards me with the same speed as when he blocked Azurill. Before I could move, he unloaded a massive uppercut to my chin, sending me flying into Crystal.

"Drowzee! Time to cool off!" Crystal shouted, sending the many shards of ice at high speeds towards Drowzee. He blocked nearly all of them, except one. It caught him in the arm and froze it. He looked at his arm, tried to move it, but when he failed he turned and glared at Crystal.

"Worthless little…" he muttered as he sent another rock flying at her, knocking her unconscious. He turned his attention back to me, staring me down.

"Hopefully without any further distractions…" he grabbed me by my throat, slightly constricting my windpipe. "I can end you, and go back to my initial plan." I peered at him with half closed eyes, feeling instinct kicking in.

"Not…yet…" I opened my mouth as far as it could go, firing an ember point blank into Drowzee's face. He cried in pain and surprise, dropping me and covering his face. I coughed deeply, air returning to my lungs. My vision was shaky at best, and I didn't have the breath to shoot another ember either.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID CHARMANDER!" Drowzee screamed, his face deeply burned by my ember. He sprinted at me, his right fist coated in pink energy. I couldn't react in time, and was slammed into the ground by Drowzee's punch. I was still conscious, and I opened my eyes enough to see him walk away and grab Azurill roughly. I pulled my arms under me, and pushed myself up. I couldn't open my right eye anymore, and I couldn't tell if I had broken or just cracked my ribs, but I managed to stand up.

"I'm… not done yet… Drowzee." I muttered out. He spun around, seeing I was just barely standing up.

"While I do commend you for guts, I'll still have to kill you, charmander." He growled, turning to face me. He dropped Azurill, and started walking towards me. I looked around, hoping that someone was able to help me. Brandon was fast asleep, Crystal was buried under rocks and is probably going to be teleported back, and Dee's foot was sticking out of a clump of rocks. I was all alone, and I stood before someone who had the power to kill me without a second thought. I fell to one knee, unable to support myself any longer.

"Charmander. I have fought many, many other opponents far above your skill level, but you have infuriated me most of all. I will take great pleasure in your death." He slowly made his way over, his right fist glowing with psychic energy again. This time I knew it was it. He rushed for me.

Before impact, I felt something take hold of me, and it felt like I could do anything. I no longer felt my injuries, although I knew they still pestered me. I opened my eye again, seeing the fist about to collide with my face. I raised my hand and caught the punch, much to both my and Drowzee's amazement. He threw his other fist at me, also sparking with psychic energy. I reached out and caught that fist as well. He screamed, forcing me into the ground, and I struggled to even breathe. I gritted my teeth, feeling a new kick from my instinct.

It told me to open my mouth and take a deep breath. So I did, and exhaled. I was shocked by what happened next.

A torrent of flames poured from my maw, striking Drowzee for a second time point blank, but this time with more power behind my flames. He screamed so loudly that it hurt me to keep going, but I knew what he had done, so I kept blowing fire into him. I forced him back, sending him sprawling on the ground. When I couldn't keep up the fire, I stopped and caught my breath. He shocked me again by standing up, although I could easily tell he was reaching his limit.

"You hold more power than I thought, Charmander. But it doesn't matter, not even your Blaze ability can help you now." He raised his arms, as if enticing me to hit him. "I am a god, compared to you! I cannot be defeated by such a weakling, it is inconceivable!"

"Conceive this, Drowzee." And with that, my tail flame swelled, and I shot one, last supercharged ember directly at him, knocking him back and unconscious. I felt my strength leave me, and I could just barely keep myself from passing out. I saw Azurill bouncing towards me, and I struggled to stay awake.

"Az…urill. Hand me…the bag…" I muttered, doing everything to not black out. I could see him stop, look around, and hand me the bag after finding it. I opened it, rooted around before pulling out three Oran berries and stuffing them down. I felt their medicinal powers healing me, and I was soon able to stand back up.

"Thank you very much! How did you know where I was though?" he asked me, I waved him off, saying that his brother told us. I quickly looked around, seeing both Brandon and Dee had been teleported out by the dungeon. Crystal was probably out by now too, so I grabbed a length of rope from the bag, tied up the charred criminal, and held on to both Azurill and Drowzee as the badge teleported us out.

CROSSROADS

We teleported back, and I lurched forward. I had teleported twice now, and it still felt like I went through a blender whenever I did. I looked behind me, seeing Drowzee was still unconscious. I looked back in front of me and saw Crystal, Dee, and Brandon all sitting down, nursing their wounds. Dee looked up as I looked over at them.

"About time, we've… oh no way, you actually managed to beat him!?" Dee cried, standing up and looking at Drowzee. I scratched my neck nervously, not knowing what to say except what happened, so I did.

"So it sounds like your Blaze ability kicked in at just the right time, is what I'm getting at." Brandon finished, leaning up against the tree. I nodded.

"Yeah, it was pure luck which won this fight." I said.

"Well, hopefully next time we'll win on skill. How about we celebrate with a drink in Spinda's Café?" Dee asked everyone. We all agreed, and we dragged Drowzee to the police station for the reward.

… … …

'Team Strikers managed to defeat notorious outlaw Drowzee the Drainer, known for draining his victims of memories until they can no longer think or act normally.' Dee read the article that the newspaper printed of us. We were sitting in the now filled Spinda's café, which was in the hole by the crossroads.

'Will this be the start of a new legendary outlaw crusher team? Or is it just pure luck? I suppose we'll find out!' Dee finished, setting down the paper.

"I think I'll stay with 'pure luck' on this one." I said, taking a sip of my delicious gummi smoothie.

"I'm still pissed of at how easily Drowzee got me. Prick hit me with Hypnosis and Dream Eater before I could even react." Brandon said, chewing on the end of his stick. I shrugged.

"Well, it doesn't matter in the end. We did a good thing saving Azurill from Drowzee." Crystal said, standing up. "I propose a toast. To the new addition to Team Strikers and too many more victories in the future." She raised her cup. "To battle."

Dee raised his cup to meet hers. "To glory."

Brandon raised his. "To victory." They turned to me, and I thought of my line.

I raised my cup to meet theirs. "And to battling evil at every whim. We are Team Strikers, and we won't stop…" I led them on, hoping they would get it.

"Until evil stays down. For good." They finished. We clinked our cups together, and chugged the rest of the drink.

* * *

 **And that will end the chapter! I am very happy with the way that it ended, with Felix's Blaze ability kicking in at the final seconds to score the winning blow. With Azurill saved, Marill elated to be back with his family, and Drowzee behind bars, our heroes enjoyed a drink in Spindas Café!**

 **Trivia Time!**

 **I wrote 1500 words without wearing any pants. It's up to you to figure out which 1500 words it was.**

 **Review, and I meet you all in Chapter four!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Don't have much to say, so just enjoy chapter four of Legend of Team Strikers.**

* * *

"I still can't believe we managed to bag Drowzee." I muttered, five days later as we all lounged in the main room for our team. Dee was tinkering it more of the parts he had, Brandon was leaning back in one of the chairs with his eyes closed, and Crystal was sitting on the desk attached to the right wall.

"Well believe it. Cause it happened." Brandon muttered back, his eyes still shut tight. I leaned back in my own chair, tucking my tail so I wouldn't be sitting on it.

"I've been meaning to ask you all this, but why are there Mystery Dungeons?" I turned to Crystal and Brandon, Dee still working with the metal. Crystal looked at the ceiling, sighing.

"Well, like Dee said, it might just be Giratina having fun screwing with us, but I firmly believe in another theory." She said, still looking up.

"And what would that be?" I asked, my attention focused.

"Well, I believe that it has something to do with the Time Gears." I looked at her, confusion apparent in my face.

"What are time gears?"

"Time Gears control the flow of time itself. None of them have been found, and none have been disturbed. It's common knowledge that stealing even one gear would cause a catastrophe bigger than Groudon and Kyogre fighting." She looked back at me, her gaze seeming empty. "If a time gear is stolen, then the surrounding area will be frozen in time. The rain would never fall, Pokémon would be stuck forever, and if all five are taken…" she shuddered. "All time will stop completely."

"And how do you know all of this?" I asked.

"In a cave thousands of miles from here, there is an inscription. It goes something like this…" she cleared her throat.

 _Five parts, scattered far and wide_

 _Control the land and the time_

 _One, hidden by green_

 _Two, covered in red_

 _Three, buried in white_

 _Four, drowned in blue_

 _Five, surrounded by all._

 _Take and time will suffer_

 _Steal all and time will fall._

"The rest was illegible. For year's exploration teams have searched for them, hoping to protect them from any would be thieves, but none have been found." She finished.

"Okay, but what do they have to do with the dungeons?" I asked. Before she could answer, Dee suddenly stood up, wiping his paws with a rag.

"Well, after that interesting history lesson, I'll be of to bed." He gathered his stuff and retreated into his room. Brandon did the same, and Crystal huffed before heading into her own, leaving me in the main room. I got up, stretched, and went to my coals. Before drifting off to sleep, however, I left a note on Dee's door telling him to wake me up early.

… … …

"Wakey wakey Felix…" I heard Dee's voice break into my dreamless slumber. I moaned, turning over and burying deeper into my coals.

"Felix, if you're going to leave a note on my door telling me to wake you up, the least you could do is, you know, WAKE UP!" He screamed, jarring me and causing me to jump up. I placed a claw on my chest, trying to slow my rapid pulse. Dee smiled, and left the room telling me to hurry up.

My breathing slowed, my pulse decreased, and I finally managed to calm myself enough to get up and leave my warm, amazing coals. I'll have to remind Dee so I won't forget to thank Soth and Sun for them. I grabbed my bag, trying not to forget it, and left my room to enter the main room. I was very surprised to see Chatot, along with the others. Noticing me, Chatot nodded, and proceeded to squawk.

"Now, your team's capture of Drowzee was very admirable. So admirable, in fact, that it impressed myself and the Guildmaster to such a point that we have decided something for all of you." He finished, peaking my interest. What had they decided for us? My question was shortly answered.

"We've decided to send you to investigate a strange waterfall. Our suspicions tell us that it may have secrets yet to be told!" I shuddered, not liking the location. I hate water, it always stings me when it hits my skin; I would hate to be anywhere near it for long. Chatot pulled out a map, and opened it on a table for us to see. He pointed to a waterfall north of us, flowing into a river and then a large lake. "This is the location of the waterfall, and I expect you all back within the end of the day. Have fun." He squawked, flying off and leaving us. Brandon stepped forward, folded up the map, and placed it in my bag. I could tell he was holding back a twitch as he did; no normal Pokémon looks like vomiting when they put something away.

"Okay team, you all heard Chatot, so let's pack up and ship off!" We nodded, sprinting off towards the shops, and finally the crossroads.

 **Suspicious Waterfall**

"Okay, time to see what's so strange about this place." Crystal said out loud. We found the waterfall after what seemed like hours of hiking, and Dee had to check to make sure it was the right one. We stood before it, and thousands of gallons of water came crashing down from the fall itself. We couldn't even stand near it; the force was far too great. I had to stand farther back, since the water was painful even without the force behind it. Brandon stood in front of everyone, looking stumped.

"I have no idea what Chatot meant when he said 'suspicious'. It looks completely normal to me." He shook his head, tossing his arms over his head. "Maybe it's all a trick, and he's just messing with us." He turned to leave, and started walking down and away from the falls, cursing under his breath. I looked back at the falls, and turned to leave myself. All too happy to leave the water, only to have my instinct to do the stupidest thing I could ever have thought possible.

It wanted me to touch the waterfall.

 _Are you insane?_ I thought to myself. Why on earth would I ever want to touch water? It burns me to come close, let alone make physical contact! But the more I resisted, the more it burned, wanting me to turn around and touch the water. I resisted, making it look like I was struggling against myself to the others. Finally I felt it take control over me, and I spun around and walked up to the falls. I had to shut one of my eyes in pain from the water, it stung.

"Uh, Felix. You do realize that the water can and most likely will kill you if you just stand there, right?" Dee asked, but the question didn't register in my brain until much later. I ignored the pain and thrust my hand under the falls, immediately recoiling in pain and falling on my rump, clutching my hissing arm. I felt two pairs of hands grab me, one reptilian, and one boney and sharp and they dragged me to a safe distance.

"Idiot! Why would you get to close to that!? It was close to killing you!" I heard Brandon's voice spit. He reached behind me, pulling me tail harshly and into view. My eyes widened as I saw the state of my tail flame.

"It's no bigger than my finger! Any longer and you would be dead! Do you _want_ to be killed, Charmander?! Do you?!" He shook my shoulders, and I felt dizzy. I reached up and grasped my head in agony, feeling a pounding headache coming on. While Brandon yelled at me, I passed out, my sight replaced by a vision.

I could see a shadowy figure padding up to the waterfall, the shape familiar. It stopped just short of the falls, backed up, and ran straight at it. My vision faltered, but only for a moment, as I saw the same shape tumble into the falls, rolling into a hidden cave behind it. It looked around, and vanished from my sight. I reopened my eyes, seeing an angry Treecko, a confused Riolu pondering, and a worried Sneasel looking down at me. I pushed Brandon off me, much to his outcry, and stared directly at the falls.

"We have to go through. A cave lies behind it, and that's what Chatot was talking about." I had everyone's attention, but it wasn't good. They all laughed, some harsher than others. Angry, I quickly relayed my vision back to them. They laughed even harder, but Dee stopped and continued pondering.

"Fine, you don't believe me. Then I suppose I'll just show you!" I shouted, running headfirst into the falls. I heard a cry of panic behind me, but I continued forward, feeling the sting of water as I approached. I leaped forward, bracing for the inevitable painful sting of the water as I passed through it. It hit me hard, nearly knocking me out from the impact alone. I felt solid ground rush up and crash into me, and I rolled for a short while before coming to a stop. I rested there for a moment, before standing up and looking where a jumped in. It was a six or seven foot drop from the entrance, and I was battered and bruised all over from both it and the waterfall. I could hear faint shouting from the other side, and a shape crashed through it. Dee had launched himself from the other side and crashed into me, sending us both sprawling.

"I guess you were right…" He mumbled out as he picked himself up. Two more shapes, Brandon and Crystal, came crashing through, tumbling themselves. I reached out, offering Brandon my hand to help him up, but he denied it and stood up by himself. He turned to look at the large hole the waterfall had made, and shook his head.

"Suppose you were right. But that doesn't explain why Dee jumped through so quickly." We all turned to him, seeing him dust himself off.

"Well, it was three things that made me jump. The first was the visions that Felix keeps having turn out true and the fact that I actually trust him, the second is that we didn't see his battered corpse float down the river, but the biggest indicator that something was amiss with the waterfall is the tell-tale cracks, just visible behind the water. Whenever I've seen cracks like that, it usually means that something was hidden away. Like this cave, for instance." He looked behind him, seeing the darkness that awaited us. Without a second's hesitation, he journeyed forth, leaving us to rush in after him.

 **Waterfall Cave BF1**

"Looks like a Mystery Dungeon to me." Brandon commented, looking at the walls and the items scattered on the floor. Dee nodded, and picked one of them up, whistling.

"Guys, looks like we hit the mother load." I looked at him quizzically and was about to ask a question, but Crystal beat me to it. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she picked one of the ones near her feet.

"No way, are these all Reviver Seeds? There is no way in hell." I looked over, running up and picking several up before handing them all to Dee. He looked at them all, before nodding.

"Most are, but we've also got a Pure Seed and a Blast Seed." Everyone looked surprisingly solemn, but I had no idea why. These are all amazing seeds! They should be happy! Before I could ask, Dee turned and answered my unspoken question.

"This is very bad. Whenever a Dungeon Team comes across a room like this, it can mean one of three things. One, this is an abandoned Kecleon Shop and that's the best option. Two, this is an extremely short dungeon and this is all the items in it, or the worst one. This dungeon has yet to be beaten, and these seeds and items are the remains of teams who have failed. This also means…"

"This dungeon is at least an S-rank completion." Crystal finished. I looked back at everyone.

"Okay, that raises another question. When we fought Drowzee, he said he was an A-rank outlaw, and now you're saying this is an S-rank dungeon. What does that mean?" I asked. Surprisingly, Brandon answered.

"It's the assumed difficulty. All missions are categorized; E-rank, the easiest possible mission, then it goes D-rank, C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, S-rank, One-star, Two-Star, then the notorious Three-star. A Three-star wanted outlaw has never been defeated or caught, and a Two-star Dungeon has never been cleared. We generally take D-ranks to B-ranks, with the occasional A-rank if it's a delivery mission. We have yet to capture any outlaw ranked a C or higher, with the exception of Drowzee." He finished, staring at the ground in disbelief. He looked back up, staring into one of the three hallways leading off.

"Since we didn't pack an Escape Orb, we'll have to at least try." He muttered, heading down the right one. Dee placed the seeds in the bag, and we all followed Brandon down the damp, dark hallway. My tail was the only light source in the place, so I had to stand behind Brandon, as he was the lead, and Dee and Crystal followed behind. The first floor was uneventful, and the next room held the staircase we needed to find.

 **Waterfall Cave BF2**

"Crap, this is not good." Were the first words out of my mouth once we had ascended the stairs. Three desolates surrounded the exit, all water types. I immediately recoiled, shielding my tail from all of them. Dee sprang forward, smacking one of them to the side. Two of them were slugs, one blue and one pink, and the last one was a Shellder. Dee had attacked the blue slug, and gotten the attention of both it and the pink one as they both sent glops of mud flying after them. This was the first time I had truly seen Brandon fight, other than Drowzee, and was surprised when two massive tentacles shot out from his shoulders and slapped the pink one away. Crystal stayed back and launched six icicles at the Shellder. Before I could even gain the strength and courage to help, all three were defeated.

"Get off your ass and get moving, drake." Brandon growled when he saw me in my state. I peeked over my tail, seeing the three defeated and the three victorious. I slowly stood up, and didn't make eye contact until we went down several hallways and another room.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, finally getting the courage to speak. I was nervously twirling my tail between my claws when I spoke, and they all turned to look at me.

"Its fine, I get the same way when I fight psychic types, and Brandon is scared to all hell of…" Dee stopped mid sentence when Brandon turned and gave him the scariest death glare I had ever seen.

"You are to _never_ speak about that day. _Never_." He spun back around, and continued down the water logged hallway. For the first time ever, I had just seen both surprise and fear in Dee's eyes instead of the usual laughter and analytical look. Crystal looked ahead, staring at Brandon as he left us all in the dust. With another second's hesitation, we continued down after him.

… … …

 **Waterfall Cave BF4**

"This is not good, THIS IS NOT GOOD!" Crystal shrieked as the Kingler constricted on Dee. We made it down the second and third floors without much competition, much too all our surprise, but the fourth floor was filled with deadly surprises. The newest one was this massive Kingler, and it had buried but not defeated Brandon in a pile of rubble, and had a powerful grip on Dee in one of his claws. No matter what Crystal (and me, on occasion) would throw at it, it would not relent. Dee couldn't do a thing to it without being crushed further, and he was screaming in pain. The crab titan had apparently snapped several of his ribs, and one had pierced his side and was visible to me. Seeing my friend's white bone sticking out of him, his own blood staining his fur… it terrified me. But it also invigorated me, and I was able to muster the strength to continue attacking the Kingler.

"Why won't it knock it out already?!" Crystal shrieked. I shook my head in fear and confusion, having no idea what we could do to beat this beast.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE, KILL IT ALREADY!" Dee screamed, trying to get himself free, crushing him further and causing more pain. Finally, the Kingler decided to lose his current toy and chase after another; in other terms, he fully closed his claw around Dee, and much to my horrified look, severed him in half. His upper half fell towards us, and his lower half limply fell in between the Kinglers many legs. With a horrified expression apparent on my face, I ran forward and held Dee's severed body, tears falling down my face. I looked at him, and was surprised that he was smiling!

"I'll be fine; the Reviver seed will heal me…" he muttered, becoming enveloped in a bright white light. He floated slightly up into the air, maybe a foot higher than his normal height, and when it disappeared, he was fully healed. A single, small seed stood on the ground next to him. He sighed, looking at his hands and feet.

"Fourth time getting bisected, never going to get used to the feeling of resurrection." He muttered to himself. He looked over his shoulder to me.

"Reviver seeds can heal the dead, but only in Dungeons. When you have one, you can no longer fear death." He turned back to the massive Kingler, shaking his head.

"Okay, this is going to sound really weird Felix, but I need you to…rub…me." He finished, lowering his ears in embarrassment. I stood back, shaking my head quickly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, we're friends, but not _that_ kind of friends, Dee." I said. He shook his head feverently, his cheeks blushing.

"Not that kind of rub! I need you to rub my arm to generate static electricity, so I can use a certain technique I learned a few years ago." He said, continuing to blush.

"Can you two please stop the homo and just help me with this thing?!" Crystal shouted, snapping our attention back to the fight. Crystal had frozen a chunk of the crab, causing it to move far slower than before.

"Come on Felix, swallow your pride and rub me!" Dee shouted.

"You don't have to word it like that…" I mumbled as I grabbed his right arm and started rubbing my claws over it, causing small flicks of electricity to spark over it. After ten seconds of furious rubbing he told me to stop, visible yellow electricity coating his entire arm. He sprinted at the king crab, dodging jet streams of water being shot at him.

"Get me an opening!" He shouted behind him. I fell to my fours, and launched a massive fireball at the crab, aiming for the face. Crystal sent a massive clump of ice instead of her usual icicle shards at the beast, and both found their mark on it. It reeled in pain, giving Dee the opening he needed. He jumped as high as he could into the air, roaring a battle cry as he cocked back his fist and unloaded it on the underside of the crab titan. It became encased in a field of electricity, and became badly burned from the voltage. It weakly roared at us, before scuttling away. I was panting, mostly in fear and joy, Dee was pretty okay for what his previous situation was, but Crystal was close to throwing up from the exertion. Dee walked over to the pile of rubble that held Brandon, focused the power of fighting to his hand, and smash the rocks away.

"Let me at 'em! Let me… oh, we're done?" Brandon shouted, running out of the pile, seemingly unharmed from the pile. I dug out an Elixir for Crystal from the bag, and tossed it back over to Dee.

"Bad news, Brandon. I used a Reviver seed." Dee told him, catching he bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Bisection or Decapitation?" he asked, shocking me by him being so casual.

"Bisection. If I was decapitated, I don't think I would be coherent." He said, crossing his arms. Brandon shuddered.

"How can you get so used to those? You die, and then are resurrected within the blink of an eye." He asked, Dee shrugging.

"I just try and not think about it."

"Hey! Are we going or are we gonna wait for his buddies to show up?!" I shouted from across the way, helping Crystal back up. Brandon looked over my way, sneering.

"I'll go when I feel like going, drake!" he growled, crossing his eyes when he looked at me. He snatched Dee's bag and peered into it.

"Only three left now. Let's not squander these, shall we?" he told Dee, still gritting his teeth. Brandon marched ahead, tossing Dee back his bag. Dee followed, and I supported Crystal while the Elixir worked its magic.

 **Waterfall Cave BF7**

Another three floors, gone in the blink of an eye. We left the fourth floor after the devastating battle with the Kingler, and descended to the fifth floor. We got lucky there, the stairs were in the same room as us, and we went down to the sixth floor. It was amazingly empty, and we only had to fight a few Shellder and the slugs from before (I figured out later that they were called Shellos, and the different colors were because they are from different areas.). And now we had arrived at the seventh floor, and my feet were starting to tire. I looked down, trailing my clawed feet behind me, and the three ahead of me were just filled with vitality.

"Hey, Dee?" I asked to my friend. He turned and looked over his shoulder, slowing down so I could match his pace.

"Yeah? You need something?" he asked me. I shook my head, ready to ask him a hard question.

"Dee, why do you fight? I know it's a strange question, but…" he waved me before I could finish.

"Not at all. The reason I fight, it's a strange one alright. I don't fight for family, or for friends. Since I don't have a family I really care for, and all my friends are here. The reason I fight, is so others can enjoy their time with their loved ones. Every time we rescue some lost, lonely Pokémon deep in a dungeon, I feel that much better knowing that I impacted that Pokémon's life in a good way. And every time we bring a wanted outlaw to justice, I feel strange warmth explode from my chest, and it comforts me." He finished, staring off into empty space. I silently 'wowed' as I kept walking.

"But… how can I fight? I have no memories, no recollections, hell; I barely remember my own name!" Dee turned to look at me.

"Then you just have to fight that much harder." He placed a finger on my chest. "You are very different from other Charmander's I've met. Most are quick to anger, impulsive, jerks, and outright warriors. But you, you are something different. I think before you lost your memories, you were a kind soul, lost in an endless sea with no where to go. The Perfect One must have seen this, and placed you in the body of a pokemon to best suit you."

"But how does a Charmander suit me? If Charmanders are like you said, shouldn't I be more like you or Brandon?" Dee shook his head.

"Arceus works in mysterious ways. Maybe he was trying to get you to be brasher, but your personality won out? I really don't know, I'm just speculating. But if you want something to fight for, find something _worth_ fight for." He finished, speeding up to the other two. We shortly found the exit.

 **Waterfall Caverns**

"Wow, this place is amazing." Crystal said as we entered the final room. I wholeheartedly agreed with her. The entire room was seemingly coated in thousands of gemstones, all different sizes and colors. One, massive red stone was peeking out at the far side of the room, and it looked far taller than anyone here! Dee quickly scurried forward, and was trying to pry this massive stone from its berth.

"Damn! Can't get it to move. Felix, try and get this to budge." He hopped of the rock he had dragged over as a footstool, and I stood on it and tried to get a grip on it. It didn't help that the surrounding water had left dew on the stone, making it slippery.

 _Whoa! This_ is _stuck in deep!_ I tried to pull it out, getting it to wiggle slightly. A rumbling came from deeper inside the cave as I pushed it forward. Another dizzy spell washed over me as I heard screaming coming from behind me. With my last little bit of vision, I saw a massive tidal pool of water rushing at us.

The rest was black, the water burning me as it washed over. I felt it burning for what felt like hours before I felt the warmth of sunlight hit my scales. I blacked out after hitting more water.

… … …

"Look, he's finally coming 'round."

"Quiet! He still needs to rest."

"For the love of Arceus, just give him another Oran Berry already!" my eyes snapped open, and I was staring into the faces of my three teammates. Dee was the most concerned, digging around in the bag for something, and pulled out a blue berry and stuffed it into my mouth. I quickly swallowed it, and tried to sit up.

"Oh, grand! He has finally awoken!" I heard an old voice come from above me, and I looked to see an ancient Torkoal, lounging about on a tower of stone. "I was afraid, afraid that you had met the Banished One, young one." I managed to sit up and get a better view of my surroundings. Several different pokemon had been resting in a heated spring, and almost all of them, with the exception of Torkoal and my teammates, had taken no notice of me.

"Where… where am I?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.

"Where? Why, you're in the hot springs, of course!" the Torkoal shouted, a little to giddy for an old geezer like himself.

"When you moved the gemstone, it triggered a trap that flooded the room and shot us out here. You used all three of the reviver seeds and six Oran berries to live, but you did idiot." Brandon sneered, crossing his arms.

"Hey, I could just as easily have moved that stone." Dee defended, glaring at Brandon.

"Well at any rate, since your conscious, we can use the badges to leave." Brandon said, staring down Dee. He pulled the four badges from the bag and handed everyone them, and we teleported out after saying goodbye to the old tortoise.

… … …

 **LATER THAT NIGHT…**

… … …

"NO! PLEASE, JUST GO AWAY!" I awoke from my sleep to hear terrified screams coming from Brandon's room.

"PLEASE, JUST STOP IT!" I quickly shot out of my coals and bolted for the door, getting scared myself.

"ARCEUS WHYYYYYYY! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!?" I threw open Brandon's door and ran inside, seeing the drastic difference between our rooms. Where I had a brazier filled with fire and coals, Brandon had a greenhouse, filled with different plants and herbs. He had a desk with a book open and herbs scattered around it. I saw both Dee and Crystal surrounding Brandon, as he was sleeping. I took a step back in fear; Brandon was sweating, his vines had popped out of his skin and were slashing around, and he was writhing in pain.

"What's happening?!" I shouted, concerned for the grass gecko. Crystal turned to me, fear and tears in her eyes.

"He's having night terrors again. He had them when he was a kid from the accident, but I thought he had finally kicked them." She looked back at Dee and Brandon, Dee trying to control the swaying vines.

"Okay, ever since I got here, it's 'accident this' and 'accident that'… what is this accident that so scared Brandon!?" I shouted, finally snapping from all the secrecy. Dee looked at Crystal.

"You should tell him, you were the one who rescued him." He motioned to Brandon, still freaking out about something. Crystal nodded, and was about to begin, but I stopped her.

"No. If it plaques Brandon so much, then I want to hear it for myself from him." I said, raising my claw to stop her.

"He's not going to want to tell you, you do know this, right?" Dee asked me when I refused. I nodded.

"Yeah, but I have a feeling that he needs to tell me this." I replied, looking at the writhing mass that is Brandon. He had calmed down a little, but was still sweating and just by looking at him; I could tell he was terrified.

Time passed, and we hung out in his room, trying to coax him back to waking up, and after three hours of his screams and vines snapping at us, he finally woke up.

"JULIA!" He screamed, sitting up wide awake in his bed. He was hyperventilating, and sweating buckets when he finally did and I stayed away so Dee and Crystal could calm him down first. They hugged him, trying to get him to stop.

"Shh, shh. It's okay Brandon. Your okay." Crystal whispered. Brandon immediately looked over to me, and gave me his worst death glare.

" _GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF MY ROOM, FILTHY DRAKE!"_ He shouted, picking up a glass jar nearby and hurling it at me. It nearly clunked me on my head, but I ducked and it exploded on the wall behind me. He grabbed more glass jars, and kept throwing them at me and chased me out of the room. I shut the door behind me, and slid down the wall.

 _Why does he act this way? Why does he hate me? Who did this do him?_

 _And who is Julia?_

* * *

 **I think I'll end it here for now. This chapter was to be much different than it is, and the things I planned were as follows.**

 **The gemstone that triggers the trap in Waterfall Caverns was to be an Onix or Steelix and they would have to fight it.**

 **And Crystal was going to tell Felix about the accident that changed Brandon's entire way of life.**

 **And while I did plan for other things, those two were the biggest. Now, I can guess that you're all wondering about Felix's question to Dee back in Waterfall Cave, and it will be answered in a much better way than right now. Plus, I'll make it epic.**

 **And now, time for the Trivia!**

 **This chapter is the first to have actual cursing, instead of 'cursed under -'s breath'.**

 **And with that, I will say good bye. For now, that is.**


End file.
